A reference to a preprocessor built-in function in input text is executed by the preprocessor only if the built-in function name is active. The functions are explained in the following table:
| Function Name | Use |
|---|---|
| COMPILETIME | Returns a character string containing the current date and time in the following format: DD MMM YY HH.MM.SS |
| COUNTER | Returns a character string containing a decimal number. The returned number is 00001 for the first invocation and is incremented by one on each successive invocation. |
| INDEX(x,y) | Returns a FIXED value indicating the starting position within the character expression x of a substring identical to character expression y. |
| LENGTH(x) | Returns a FIXED value specifying the current length of a given character expression x. |
| PARMSET(x) | Used to determine whether a specified parameter has been set on the invocation of a procedure. |
| SUBSTR(x,y[,z]) | Returns a substring of the character expression x, starting at position y with length z. |
| TRANSLATE(s,t,x) | Replaces occurrences in the character string s of a character in the specified string x with the corresponding translation character in translation string t and returns the resulting string. |
| VARIANT | Returns a character string specified on the command line. |
Examples
Example 1.
%ACTIVATE COMPILETIME;
%DECLARE TOC CHAR;
%TOC = ''''||COMPILETIME||'''';
PUT LIST ('COMPILED AT' ||TOC);
PUT SKIP;
The text generated by this example would be as follows:
PUT LIST('COMPILED AT '||' 14 NOV 93 15.53.12');
PUT SKIP;
Example 2.
%DECLARE XXX CHAR, COUNTER BUILTIN, I FIXED; %DO I = 1 TO 4; %XXX = 'DECLARE NAME_'|| COUNTER || 'FIXED BIN(31);'; XXX %END;
The text generated by this example would be as follows:
DECLARE NAME_00001 FIXED BIN(31); DECLARE NAME_00002 FIXED BIN(31) DECLARE NAME_00003 FIXED BIN(31) DECLARE NAME_00004 FIXED BIN(31)